How to start my own business? Part 1. Five simple rules

So, you think that you are ready for your own business. Or — not yet thinking about it, but you did start reading this article? Then you already have a chance to become a businessman. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” as Lao Tzu said. Having opened this article, you took such a step. Is it enough to keep you going? In this article, Crowdholding presents 5 rules that you must take into account before starting a business.

So, where does any business start? Not a chance that you’ll guess … With a desire, of course! But, as you know, the devil is in the details. If you only want to improve your financial situation, then don’t necessarily need a business. For example, any of the “trader” on the market is a businessman, like grandmothers who sell sunflower seeds. But this alone does not make a person rich. On the other hand, being employed can get you a very good salary. One of our friends, a young man, had a monthly salary of 240,000$. Moreover, business trips abroad, expensive hotels, company car … Does he need his own business, with its headaches and risks? We believe not. Try to make a career in a large corporation, but also consider reading our 30 reasons to be an entrepreneur. The first rule that must be firmly remembered: “Being wealthy does not equal owning a business .”

Haven’t changed your mind yet? Then we’ll continue. There is a harsh statistics that claims that two-thirds of companies close operations in the first year of work, of those who survive — in the next year, two-thirds are closed. That is, the chances of surviving in two years — only 10% of firms as advocated in this article. Of course, there are firms that open only to close immediately. Another statistic: before you find a profitable business, you will have to try on average five to seven times. Be prepared for repeated defeats. Worse, the most profitable projects hold serious risk. Less risk — less margin. The second rule: “My business is always a risk, but not always a success.”

If you are not afraid yet, then you need to decide on a project. The main thing in a project is the idea. Any successful business is always an idea that distinguishes it from others. Of course, you can open a kiosk at a stop and trade, like hundreds of others, with chocolates and beer, but you will not succeed in life like this. You can not go to business in the tail! If you see an innovation that can bring money — cling to it. Study it, explore it! Good advice: an innovation in your city is sometimes something that in another city is a long-known affair. Almost everything new is a forgotten old (or just little-known). Study business in other cities (countries), pay special attention to what is not in your city yet. This is even more simple because the idea has already proved the right to exist. No interesting idea — do not even bother. Read about how collaboration with the crowd leads to unprecedented innovation in our blog. Ideological competitors you just eat. The third rule: “Successful business is always an innovation!”

If you think that we try to dissuade you, then you think wrong. We’ll sweeten the deal. There is an opinion that a good start-up capital is always needed for one’s business. In most situations, this is not the case. If, of course, you want to open a restaurant — yes, money is needed and considerable. But we would not advise you to start with a restaurant. Most of the world-famous businesses started literally from cents. Examples: Microsoft, Macintosh business, Coca-Cola, Kodak, Google and many others. Read the story of startups that launch products with minimum-low investments If you start the right business, then it starts to feed itself soon enough. Your task is to hold out for a short period of time, two or three months, on a starvation ration. As a rule, in a quarter it will be already known whether there is a prospect, and whether it is worth continuing the business, or whether it is necessary to cover it. The fourth rule: “For the starting a business you need minimal money, but efforts invested — as much as possible.”

Well, if the circumstances have developed in such a way that you need money, you can always find them. The standard search scheme is FFF, that is, family, friends or fools. If none of the FFF methods worked, maybe you are on the wrong path? If friends do not just want to lend money, offer them a joint venture. If it didn’t work out that way, if we would be in your place, we’d had seconds thoughts about whether you need a business at all. But, there are exceptions. If you consider yourself a genius — take a loan from the bank, now it’s easier than ever. Only take a loan that is the RIGHT one. This means that you should not pay an annuity (monthly), but at the end of the period. Only monthly interest is paid, and the effective rate should rise above 20%. There are such loans (although it is not easy to take them), ask in banks. You can still win a city or regional competition and get a solid tranche from the authorities. But here you need the ability to write business plans, and not everyone can do it. You can just come to a rich entrepreneur with the idea of ​​investing, our friend got a lot of money and successfully works for the second year. Although your idea may be intercepted by others, we warned you about the risk — remember? The fifth rule: “If you need money for business — they will certainly be found!”

Everything you read should help you just decide whether to go into business. It is clear that this is a story, but the stories are necessary. Success stories are born on Crowdholding where your can launch your startup and collaborate with the crowd.

In our time, we were also tormented by doubts, and we made our choice. But we know one thing, employment is not for us. Even for big money.